Final round
CREED | Sylvester Stallone has one last outing (again) as Rocky Balboa, this time training up some new blood.
“This isn’t Rocky VII,” says Sylvester Stallone. “It’s an incredible idea – an insane idea.”
Despite promising that the sixth installment in the saga, Rocky Balboa, was going to be the final bow for his most beloved character, Sly has (again) been persuaded to step back into the ring one last time.
Well, he won’t actually be fighting in Creed. The ‘insane’ idea came from Fruitvale Station writer/ director Ryan Coogler, who shifted the focus to the next generation of fighters, namely Adonis Creed, the son of Rocky’s one-time rival Apollo, who met an untimely end during a bout with Ivan Drago in Rocky IV. Coogler found inspiration for the father-son dynamic within his own family. “[ My dad and I] were going through something pretty intense in our relationship around the time I was getting ready to make Fruitvale, and that’s how I came up with the idea for Creed,” says the director, who rewatched the series with his father.
The hook here is that Adonis, played by Fantastic Four star Michael B. Jordan (see p66), calls on his old man’s former sparring partner to train him up. In short, Rocky becomes Mickey. A self-professed Rocky fan, Jordan is dedicated to making sure Creed hits the mark. “I’m gonna make sure we do a good job with this,” he confirms. “Sly’s not gonna let anything happen to his baby.” Early footage shown at CinemaCon suggests that Coogler has nailed the tone with a spot-on blend of grit and nostalgia. Here’s hoping Rocky goes the distance in his final bout. MM ETA | TBC Creed is expected to open later this year.